Christchurch

Kia ora whanau!! 

What a week. Oh my life. 

I'll talk about R first. Elder Osburn texted us on Saturday and said that R had moved out from her partner and was staying with the Osburns until they figured something else out. He said we could plan on baptizing her in our ward in a couple weeks!! Then, as Elder Osburn drove us to the library this morning, he told us that she's moving back to the farm. Not back in with her partner, but back into the other ward. I have no words. The first time we found out she was moving killed me and then I had been telling our members that R was back and we were gonna have a baptism!! Then, for the second time, we found out that she's moving to the other ward. It's either laugh or cry at this point and crying would be pretty embarrassing because I'm in the library. So I'm laughing about it. 

The Osburns are a senior couple in the mission in my area. They've helped me and all the other missionaries so much. They give support and help that no 19 or 20 year old missionary can give just because they have so much more life experience. So all of you that are married and older and stuff, please give serious thought to serving a senior mission. 

We had a special zone conference up in Christchurch this week and we had a lot of people speak to us. The Reeve's, the McConkie's, The Pearson's. There were a lot of tears. Such a strong spirit was there. My favorite was Elder Pearson though. He told us a story about his mission in Helsinki, Finland. He was getting a new companion, Joe Pratt, and it was Elder Pratt's last transfer. The first thing Elder Pratt did when he got off the train was grab Elder Pearson by the lapels and said something like this, "Elder Pearson. I have one transfer left and I haven't brought anyone into the fold of God on the mission. I cannot leave without baptizing somebody. Will you do whatever it takes with me this last transfer??" 

They went back to the flat and prayed and talked and prayed more. They worked harder than they ever had. They made a goal to have someone ready for baptism before Elder Pratt left on the plane. Elder Pratt rode away on the train before they found someone, but Elder Pearson did the same thing to his new companion. When they got back to the flat, their bishop had left a note on their door telling them to come over. His son had been reading the book of Mormon and knew it was true. They taught him all the lessons in a row and Elder Pearson looked at his watch. Elder Pratt hadn't left on the plane yet. 

I keep going back to the question he asked, "What desirest thou?" It's all I can think about and I'm very very inspired. 

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Benjamin